Registration ends 07.4.2026 at 23:59 h

You will register automatically for this course if you register for one of the following courses:
Theorien der Internationalen Beziehungen (Wolfgang Minatti),
Theories of International Relations (Tobias Lenz)

International politics is a key subject of daily news: from the Russian invasion of Ukraine via the strategic rivalry between the United States and China or the international spread of the coronavirus to the diplomatic haggling in large international negotiations, such as regular United Nations climate negotiations. This lecture gives a systematic introduction to the academic study of international politics focusing on three core areas: war and peace, functional international cooperation, and international political economy. Within each area, first we describe key structures and developments, both historical and contemporary, by drawing on core concepts, second we examine how each of these areas is governed at the international level, and third we introduce the most important explanations that have been developed in each of these areas.

The purpose of the lecture is to introduce students to the core topics, questions, key concepts and main explanations advanced in the discipline of International Relations. Besides acquiring basic knowledge of the development of key aspects of the international system, students will get an overview of the analytical toolbox of International Relations. In combination with the accompanying seminar (“Theorien der Internationalen Beziehungen”), students learn to use the tools of International Relations in order to describe and explain core structures, developments and outcomes of international politics.

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